New Potential Player In NASCAR TV Negotiations

The current NASCAR TV contract expires at the end of the 2014 season. The featured networks since that agreement began in 2007 are FOX, ESPN, TNT and SPEED.

The Daly Planet has learned that a new potential player may emerge and seek to participate in the sport's TV package. 2014 might seem distant, but NASCAR intends to get the new contract completed by 2013. That allows for a season of planning, budgeting and logistics.

What this means is that 2012 will be a year of negotiating. The current TV package has been both a blessing and a curse. The blessing came in the form of 4.5 billion dollars from the NASCAR TV partners. Back in 2005, when the deal was done, NASCAR was the toast of the town.

The curse came in the form of TV influence affecting everything from race start times to critical issues within the sport. At times, viewers have been seemingly driven away by the race coverage of the very networks who rely on TV ratings to pay the NASCAR bills.

What NASCAR has and TV networks really want is content. The sport runs actively for ten months of the year. The two month break comes conveniently during the winter holiday season. NASCAR has no collective bargaining, no unions and no player reps. A TV network is buying a product totally controlled by the sanctioning body.

Currently, the Sprint Cup Series TV is sliced into three pieces that do not match. FOX is an over-the-air broadcast network. Trying to distribute long-form national sports programming through local TV stations is not a future model for professional sports.

TNT is a cable TV entertainment network. The six summer races produced by the network serve as a platform for promotion of the network's entertainment series. Neither FOX or TNT carry any additional NASCAR programming other than the pre-race show and races. That is also not a model for the future.

ESPN originally aired most of its races on ABC, but ran into the same issues with logistics and local stations. Now, 14 of the network's 17 races are on cable TV. While ESPN may promote itself as NASCAR friendly, the tensions have been rising between NASCAR and the network for the last several years.

ESPN also handles the Nationwide Series while SPEED produces the Camping World Truck Series telecasts. There are little twists in the current deal. SPEED gets Daytona's twin races and the All-Star race. In return, SPEED pays to have the NASCAR Media Group produce non-racing shows from the tracks like RaceDay.

The potential player on the horizon is a household brand. In a world where some TV networks seem more like conduits of endlessly themed programming, this player is different. It brings a nicely balanced global media perspective that may open a door beyond the US. One desire of NASCAR continues to be better worldwide distribution.

There are only a handful of media companies who can play at the high-roller table of TV rights negotiations. When the dollar conversation moves from millions to billions it quickly separates the men from the boys. This potential player has a long history of success in exactly that type of game.

Maybe the hardest part of entering into an extensive new programming agreement is having the TV infrastructure in place behind the scenes to go to work and get the job done. This player can produce and distribute an almost limitless amount of live and edited content.

While NASCAR has a history with many broadcast and cable TV networks, there is no history with the new potential player. Rarely in the media marketplace does an opportunity come along to begin a fresh relationship with a clean slate and get the same results. This situation has that dynamic.

The final clue in this riddle is simple. You already enjoy many hours of programming created by this company. Bringing an established media brand to a new TV contract is going to be key for NASCAR. The sanctioning body must know that the integrity of the new partner is solid.

As things move forward, it should be interesting to see when the new potenial player emerges and announces it has arrived. In the meantime, have fun guessing who might show-up and change the entire landscape of NASCAR TV as we currently know it.

We welcome your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Carl Edwards TV Overload

He might be the nicest guy in North America. He might be the best driver in NASCAR. He might have the perfect marriage, a great physique and represent the ultimate dream for a Sprint Cup Series sponsor. That doesn't mean he deserves to be on TV.

The place we would normally see a Sprint Cup Series driver like Carl Edwards is among the personalities being interviewed before and after the races. Should a problem occur during the event, some words from him outside the infield care center or in the garage explaining the situation would make sense. That is not what is happening.

Somehow this season, Edwards is morphing into a NASCAR TV analyst who drives. When he is in the race, he is often the in-race TV reporter. If he happens to drop out, he immediately moves into an on-air position regardless of the network covering the race. No other driver has extended his personal brand with the NASCAR TV partners like Edwards.

Last year ESPN tapped him to appear in the post-race coverage of every Chase for the Championship race. He was not appearing as a driver, but as an analyst. Moments after the professional sports event in which he participated was over, Edwards was on national TV offering opinions from his perspective on the other teams and drivers.

There is no TV network more enamored of Edwards than ESPN. Monday, he will be an in-studio guest analyst on the NASCAR Now panel. Normally comprised of three panelists, ESPN will just add a chair and let Edwards sit among the experts hired to talk about him and the other athletes.

It was a head-scratcher when ESPN let Nationwide Series owner Rusty Wallace call Nationwide Series races. It was puzzling when ESPN let Brad Daugherty continue in his analyst role after becoming a Sprint Cup Series owner. Both of those examples pale in comparison to Edwards continued presence on ESPN.

Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree, Rusty Wallace, Brad Daugherty, Ricky Craven, Johnny Benson, Kenny Schrader, Terry Blount, Marty Smith, David Newton, Ryan McGee, Ed Hinton and Dr. Jerry Punch all contribute to ESPN's NASCAR TV content. That is what they do for a living.

Just as there are a limited number of seats for drivers in the Sprint Cup Series, there are a limited number of opportunities on the TV side of the NASCAR fence. ESPN filled those TV seats long before the season started. That is why someone must be pushed aside to make room for Edwards on the Monday NASCAR Now program.

Whenever Edwards shows up in the TV booth or studio, he is taking advantage of a fundamental conflict of interest. He is welcomed as a current NASCAR driver of whom the ESPN personalities would normally ask questions. Instead, Edwards has perfected the transition to an analyst offering comments of his own.

That immediately changes the on-air dynamic because none of the ESPN personalities have been involved in the racing. Suddenly, there is someone on the set who can top any opinion they have to offer because only he has been there and done that. It puts the ESPN analysts in a very awkward position.

At age 31, it certainly does not appear that Edwards will be retiring from driving soon and seeking a TV career. While other NASCAR stars like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are TV friendly, there has never been an ongoing dynamic quite like the current Edwards situation.

When SPEED asked Elliott Sadler to join the network's RaceHub show for a Monday segment, it was because Sadler had left the Sprint Cup Series. In his current TV roles, Edwards continually puts himself in the position of offering commentary on athletes, owners and team members with whom he actively competes.

This season there have been several other drivers who have visited the NASCAR Now studios and appeared on camera. While those appearances were strictly for publicity, the Monday Edwards appearance feels much more like an audition.

It should be interesting to see what ESPN TV role might be assumed by Edwards as the network takes over the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series telecasts for the rest of the season beginning with the Brickyard 400 in two weeks.

How do you feel about this issue? Many fans enjoyed Edwards on the air from the ESPN infield pit studio on Saturday after his car fell out of the Nationwide Series race. Others felt that his ability to step into that type of national TV exposure was unfair to his competitors.

We welcome your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

TV Police: Sprint Cup Series From New Hampshire On TNT

Spenser was a real New Englander. A former Boston cop turned private eye, he lived a unique lifestyle that centered around the search for truth. Hawk was his sidekick who had his back when times got tough. They were real men, made no excuses and got to the bottom of things by doing what they had to do.

It was TNT's final race for 2011. This is year five of the "Summer six pack" on the network. Since the start of the coverage, some fans have loved the TNT style and some fans have hated the coverage from top to bottom.

Lindsay Czarniak hosted the pre-race show with Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds. The program featured a solid interview with Kurt Busch on the TNT set and a well-produced feature on former driver/owner Cotton Owens.

Adam Alexander called the race with Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Petty in the TV booth. On pit road was Matt Yocum, Chris Neville, Marty Snider and Ralph Sheheen. These veterans have done a good job, although NASCAR rookie Neville has been earning his stripes dealing with angry drivers.

Larry McReynolds was moved to the cutaway car several times for updates during the race. Unfortunately, almost every single time something significant happened on the track. In the end, McReynolds wound-up looking foolish not only for the fundamental issue he was discussing, but for the coverage missing the action on the track.

Alexander has a casual style that resembles a reporter more than a true play-by-play announcer. But, his information is solid and he has no problem directing traffic. It just seems that he does not blend well with Petty and Dallenbach in the booth. It just feels awkward on the air.

Petty is a known commodity due to his regular TV work with SPEED, but Dallenbach is always a wild card as he is not connected to the sport except for these six races. Some enjoy his irreverent style, while others suggest his knowledge as an analyst is outdated.

TNT has brought the normal NASCAR TV struggles with commercial breaks and NHMS was no exception. Viewers have come to understand that this heavy level of commercial integration is now part and parcel of the sport.

The positive aspect was that the TNT races brought RaceBuddy with them. This online app will not be in use for the ESPN races and that is going to be a tough transition for fans. RaceBuddy gives TV viewers a workable alternative to continue watching the live racing during a commercial break.

The flat track of New Hampshire resulted in some early incidents before the race settled down into another fuel mileage contest. A late penalty on Dale Earnhardt Jr. upset many fans and TNT did not really follow-up on the specific pit violation.

The finish was without excitement and totally dominated by fuel. It was a tough way to close out the final NASCAR on TNT race for a network that lives on drama.

This post will serve to host your TV race wrap-up comments for the TNT coverage of the Sprint Cup Series from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comment button below.